Citizen resources

The League of Women Voters, at the national and state level, advocates for an impartial and unbiased criminal justice system that protects and promotes the dignity of all.  We promote evidence-based actions to build trust and transparency and promote alternatives to custodial arrest when possible.

LWVIL positions include support for the elimination of cash bond in pretrial procedures. This reform is part of the criminal justice legislation adopted into law in January of 2021 in the state of Illinois. Subsequent trailer bills passed in December of 2022 provided further clarifications to the law. 

The portion of the Safety, Accountability and Fairness Equity-Today Act, or SAFE-T Act, that eliminates cash bail (the Pretrial Fairness Act, or PFA) was scheduled to go into effect at the start of January of 2023, making Illinois the first state in the nation to completely eliminate money bail.  Following the ruling of a Kankakee County circuit judge, the start date has been delayed pending consideration by the Illinois Supreme Court.

You can read more about the pretrial reforms and SAFE-T Act in the LWVPR informational resource linked below & find updates at the Illinois Answers Project.